Issues: oil spill

In an email to constituents, Republican Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana claims “the Obama administration shut down the entire offshore oil and gas industry” after the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. That’s not true.
The administration halted the drilling of all new wells for one month. And the Interior Department issued a months-long moratorium on deepwater drilling. New safety requirements also slowed down the permitting process for shallow-water drilling.
But existing offshore wells continued to pump out natural gas and oil.

Call this one the Axelrod Edition. President Obama’s senior adviser, David Axelrod, was on three of the political talk shows on July 11, and we found that he strayed from the factual straight-and-narrow several times in talking about the oil spill, border security and other issues.
We also found Republican congressman Brian Bilbray overstating support for an immigration bill and Attorney General Eric Holder repeating a claim we’ve critiqued before about how many terrorism trials have taken place in the civilian justice system.

Republican Rep. Mark Kirk is attacking his Democratic opponent in the Illinois race for the U.S. Senate with two ads that go beyond what the facts support. The ads make unsupported claims about the role Giannoulias played at his family’s troubled bank and strain to tie him to BP, among other dubious statements.
Kirk released the new ads less than a day after he apologized for embellishing his own military record.Bank Shot
According to one of the ads,

The April 20 explosion that started oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico has prompted a slew of claims and counterclaims about the disaster. What caused it, how it’s being handled, the history of drilling accidents in the area – all are subjects ripe for false or misleading statements by politicians and others. …

In episode 17 of FactCheck Radio, we look at false and misleading oil spill claims from both Republicans and Democrats. Also, we talk about the New Mexico gubernatorial race and debunk an ad from Democrat Diane Denish, attacking Republican Susana Martinez.(Click the play button below to listen to the podcast. Or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.)

For more on the stories discussed in this episode, see:
Oil Spill, Foreign Help and the Jones Act

In a new ad, the Democratic National Committee inaccurately accuses "the Republican Party" of endorsing Rep. Joe Barton’s notorious public apology to the CEO of BP.
The ad goes too far when it tries to grease all Republicans with the same oily mess the Texas Republican made for himself at the June 17 hearing on the Gulf oil spill. Some Republicans have voiced similar positions. But other leading GOP lawmakers have made clear that Barton and the others don’t speak for the party.

Q: Did Obama turn down foreign offers of assistance in cleaning up the Gulf oil spill? Did he refuse to waive Jones Act restrictions on foreign-flag vessels?A: No to both questions. So far, offers from six foreign countries or entities have been accepted and only one offer has been rejected. Fifteen foreign-flag vessels are working on the cleanup, and none required a waiver.

The Father’s Day political talk shows contained a stretch here, an exaggeration there, misimpressions left everywhere. Here’s what we found.All Studies Don’t Agree
On CNN’s "State of the Union," Sen. Joe Lieberman, an Independent, bragged about the supposed benefits of the climate-change bill he has introduced with Democratic Sen. John Kerry:

Lieberman: And, look, our comprehensive bill, according to all of the independent studies will create half a million new jobs a year,

In episode 16 of FactCheck Radio, we look at some overstatements from the president in his speech on the BP oil spill. And we talk about false and misleading remarks from Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina and White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod on "Meet the Press."(Click the play button below to listen to the podcast. Or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.)

For more on the stories discussed in this episode, see:
Fact-Checking Obama’s Oil Speech

In his June 15 speech to the nation on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama overstated some things, including how quickly he assembled a government team to work with BP. Here are some statements that we found to be less than accurate.Administration Response
In explaining the administration’s response to the oil spill, Obama said "just after the rig sank, I assembled a team of our nation’s best scientists and engineers to tackle this challenge —